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  • Eisenhower Executive Office Building Repairs - Washington DC
    In 1933, the Washington Post reported the appropriation of $2,000 for unspecified repairs and $5,000 for removing old chimneys to the former State, War, and Navy Building – now known as the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.    The 1888 building was supplanted by a new War Department building in 1941, which the War Department quickly left to occupy The Pentagon.  That building passed to the State Department and is still part of the Truman State Department complex.
  • Eleanor Roosevelt Library - Washington DC
    The Eleanor Roosevelt Library is a room in the Whittemore House and Museum on 1526 New Hampshire Avenue, NW.  The house is the headquarters of the Woman’s National Democratic Club, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. According to the DC Preservation League, the house’s “distinguished guests have included Eleanor Roosevelt, who delivered many of her radio addresses in the 1960s from the house’s library and hosted a women-only press conference in the house to combat the obstacles faced by female journalists.” The house was built between 1892 and 1894 but it is unknown to the Living New Deal...
  • Eleventh Street SE Improvements - Washington DC
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) made improvements to a lengthy segment of Eleventh Street SE, from Pennsylvania Avenue to Anacostia Bridge, in 1935-36. "Eleventh Street SE, from Pennsylvania Avenue to Anacostia Bridge, was widened and repaved with sheet asphalt pavement and a sharp curve at the approach to the bridge was eliminated. This roadway also carried car tracks, which were removed, and the pavement that was replaced consisted of granite block laid in 1889.” This work was part of the $949,496 WPA allotment for DC roadwork for fiscal year 1936. This WPA roadwork is probably not discernible today due to subsequent road maintenance,...
  • Ellen Wilson Dwellings - Washington DC
    The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the United States Housing Authority (USHA) funded the construction of the Ellen Wilson Dwellings in Washington, DC between 1938 and 1941. The Ellen Wilson Dwellings were demolished in 1996, and the area appears to have transitioned away from public housing. The ADA was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better housing for low-income Americans. It replaced unsafe alley dwellings in Washington, DC with more modern and affordable houses and apartments. The ADA existed from 1934-1943 as a federally controlled special authority. It then slowly evolved into today’s DC Housing Authority, an independent agency of...
  • Ellicott Street NW Construction - Washington DC
    In 1940, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a new roadway at Ellicott Street between 43rd Street and Wisconsin Avenue in the district's northwest quadrant.  This project was part of a massive New Deal program of street paving and upgrades around the city of Washington DC.  Most such work is invisible today beneath subsequent repavings.
  • Environmental Protection Agency Buildings: Window Replacements - Washington DC
    The Washington Post, October 11, 1933, reported on Public Works Administration (PWA) disbursements for federal buildings in the District:  "Five Government buildings will get new window fixtures here at a cost of $77,324. The departments sharing in this grant are Post Office, Interstate Commerce, Labor, Justice and the auditorium which connects the Interstate Commerce Commission and the Labor Buildings. The work is expected to provide 150 men with jobs for three months." The Department of Labor was relocated in 1979 and the Interstate Commerce Commission was dissolved in 1996. The buildings are now part of the the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) complex...
  • Excel Academy Public Charter School - Washington DC
    In 1943, the Washington Post reported the planned construction of the former Birney Elementary School by the Federal Works Agency (FWA) with appropriations under the Lanham Act. The building is now the Excel Academy Public Charter School.
  • Executive Ave Resurfacing - Washington DC
    The Public Works Administration funded the resurfacing of Executive Ave in Washington DC. Pictured are work crews on Executive Ave with the White House in the background.
  • Federal Project Number One Headquarters (former site of McLean Mansion) - Washington DC
    Federal Project Number One (1935-1939) consisted of the WPA’s art, music, theatre, writing, and historic records survey programs. It was headquartered in the McLean Mansion at 1500 I Street NW. The mansion was torn down in 1939 to make way for the new Lafayette Building (which still exists today, and is home to the Export-Import Bank). Federal Project Number One also ceased to exist in 1939, although New Deal art projects (except for the theater) continued on as locally sponsored (but still WPA-funded) projects throughout the nation.
  • Federal Trade Commission Building - Washington DC
    The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was created by Congress in 1914 and the FTC occupied various sites in the District of Columbia during its early years. It finally got a permanent home in 1937-38 under the New Deal, with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) and Public Buildings Branch of the Treasury Department.  The FTC building stands at the eastern apex of the Federal Triangle, at the intersection of Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenues, and was originally known as the Apex Building.  The New Deal completed several buildings in the Federal Triangle that had been started in the early 1930s, but...
  • Federal Trade Commission: Bas-Reliefs - Washington DC
    The exterior of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) building is enhanced by several works of art commissioned by the Treasury Department's Section of Fine Arts in 1938. Above the entrances are rectangular bas-relief panels that represent foreign trade, agriculture, shipping, and industry: "Construction" by Chaim Gross (1938);  "Shipping" by Robert Laurent (1938); "Agriculture" by Concetta Scaravaglione (1938); "Foreign Trade" by Carl L. Schmitz (1938). There are also two bas-relief medallions with eagles by Sidney Waugh located on the northwest corner elevation of the building (not shown here).    
  • Federal Trade Commission: Lantz Sculptures - Washington DC
    The exterior of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) building is enhanced by several works of art commissioned by the Treasury Department's Section of Fine Arts in 1938. The building is fronted on the east side by two monumental sculptures, entitled "Man Controlling Trade", by Michael Lantz (1942).  These allegorical sculptures, in Art Deco Style, depict a muscular man holding a rearing stallion, symbolizing the force of trade and the government’s role in regulating it.   
  • Federal Trade Commission: McVey Grilles - Washington DC
    The exterior of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) building is enhanced by several works of art commissioned by the Treasury Department's Section of Fine Arts in 1938. The large, cast aluminum grilles on the Constitution Avenue entrance have six images designed by William McVey portraying commercial transportation methods: Columbus's 15th-century ships, an 18th-century merchant ship, a 19th-century clipper ship, a paddlewheel steamship, an early 20th-century ocean liner, and a seaplane.
  • Fire Alarm Headquarters - Washington DC
    On March 14th, 1939, the Washington Post reported the allocation of funds by the Public Works Administration (PWA) for the construction of a fire alarm headquarters for Washington DC: "Construction of the new District fire alarm headquarters building in McMillan Park, near Fourth and Douglas streets, at a cost of $183,994 was approved yesterday by the PWA. The building contract was awarded to Jeffress-Dyer, Inc., of 1719 K street northwest. Funds will come from a $500.000 combined loan and grant in PWA funds authorized last fall. The building will house the fire alarm system, storage room. repair shop and offices for H. A....
  • Folger Park Redevelopment - Washington DC
    Folger Park on the south side of Capitol Hill was named for Charles J. Folger, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury from 1881 to 1884. Part of the original L'Enfant plan of Washington DC, the park was significantly improved in the late 19th century – probably at the same time it was renamed. Folger Park was substantially redeveloped under the New Deal, with funds provided by the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1935 and work carried out by Works Progress Administration (WPA) relief labor in 1936.  This was part of a sweeping program of parks and playground renewal across Washington undertaken by...
  • Foote Street Houses - Washington DC
    The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the Federal Works Agency (FWA) funded the construction of the Foote Street Houses in Washington, DC in 1943. This development of 168 living units was built for African American national defense workers (Washington, DC was highly segregated at the time). It is unknown to the Living New Deal if any of the structures still exist, but it is not likely since these homes were classified as “demountable,” i.e., intended to be taken down and salvaged sometime after the war. The ADA was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better housing for low-income Americans. It...
  • Ford House Office Building - Washington DC
    The Gerald R. Ford House Office Building was constructed during the New Deal as the Federal General Office Building No. 1 (GOB #1).  It was built just behind the new Social Security and Railroad Retirement Board buildings, which were underway at the time. Its original purpose was to house 7000 employees of the U.S. Census Bureau for the census of 1940. Congress appropriated $3.5 million for the building in 1938 and it was constructed in record time in 1939-40 (FWA 1940). It provided one-half million square feet of office space. President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal drove an unprecedented increase in federal employees...
  • Fordham Road NW Improvements - Washington DC
    In 1933-34, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) carried out pavement repair and other unspecified improvements to a long segment of Fordham Road NW, from Rockwood Parkway to Massachusetts Avenue.   The road was paved with “temporary material consisting of broken-concrete base, broken stone, and slag. These large aggregates are choked with smaller material, and an application of asphaltic cement completes the operation. This construction forms a very good temporary roadway.”   The work is likely still extant, but invisible and unmarked.  
  • Fort Bunker Hill Park (abandoned) - Washington DC
    Fort Bunker Hill was a part of the Civil War ring of forts defending the capital. The site was transformed into a park in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) as a park for a recently built suburban neighborhood. Sadly, it has been abandonned by the city park authorities and left in an overgrown and dilapidated condition. A HABS report details the CCC development of the park: “By the end of 1935, CCC work had begun at the site with Camp NP-11-DC planting trees and constructing walks.  Work at the site continued into at least early 1937.  This Camp and...
  • Fort Drive and Reno Road NW Improvements - Washington DC
    According to Work: A Journal of Progress, Works Progress Administration (WPA) crews did roadway excavation and other work on Fort Drive in Fort Reno Park, in front of the Alice Deal School, as well as landscaping the slopes of nearby Reno Road  in 1936.
  • Fort Drive NW Improvements - Washington DC
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) carried out pavement repair and other, unspecified improvements to a segment of Fort Drive NW, near Nebraska Avenue, in 1935-36. The work was part of the $949,496 WPA allotment for DC roadwork for fiscal year 1936.   The work is likely still extant, but invisible beneath subsequent repairs and paving.    
  • Fort Dupont Dwellings - Washington DC
    The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the United States Housing Authority (USHA) funded the construction of Fort Dupont Dwellings in Washington, DC between 1939 and 1941. The land had been acquired earlier, by the Public Works Administration (PWA). The ADA was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better housing for low-income Americans. It replaced unsafe alley dwellings in Washington, DC with more modern and affordable houses and apartments. The ADA existed from 1934-1943 as a federally controlled special authority. It then slowly evolved into today’s DC Housing Authority, an independent agency of the DC Government.
  • Fort Dupont Dwellings Community Building - Washington DC
    The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) funded the construction of a community building for the Fort Dupont Dwellings and surrounding area, ca. 1939-1941. It is unknown to the Living New Deal if this building still exists. The ADA was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better housing for low-income Americans. It replaced unsafe alley dwellings in Washington, DC with more modern and affordable houses and apartments. The ADA existed from 1934-1943 as a federally controlled special authority. It then slowly evolved into today’s DC Housing Authority, an independent agency of the DC Government. The Fort Dupont Dwellings Community Building was part...
  • Fort Dupont Park - Washington DC
    From a HABS Survey Report on CCC involvement in the park's development: "This park is located on the east side of the Anacostia River just to the south of East Capitol Street in Southeast Washington.  The initial, roughly sixteen-acre land purchase encompassing the original section of Fort Dupont Park, including the fort, occurred in 1916.   In 1933, the site came under the purview of the NPS and they quickly advanced existing plans to enlarge the park.  They envisioned ‘that the ultimate development of Fort Dupont will be somewhat similar to Rock Creek Park’ and ‘will serve the large population of Northeast...
  • Fort Greble Recreation Center - Washington DC
    In 1942, the Washington Post reported seven acres allocated by the Federal Works Agency (FWA) for a playfield at Fort Greble, at the intersection of Chesapeake St. and Shepherd St (which no longer goes through).  This is the present site of Fort Greble Recreation Center (also called the Spray Park) and the Leckie Elementary School.  It still features a baseball field and basketball courts, which probably trace their origins to the New Deal work in the 1940s.
  • Fort Lesley J. McNair (Army War College) Improvements - Washington DC
    Formerly known as the Army War College, Fort Lesley J. McNair is a U.S. Army post located at the confluence of the Potomac and the Anacostia Rivers. The site has been an army post for more than 200 years. During the New Deal, both the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) made extensive improvements to the post. In 1933-34, the CWA did everything from sewer construction and building renovations to adding a bandstand and repairing the bowling alley. Records in the National Archives provide these details: "Building concrete coal bin & retaining walls, south of incinerator; Making necessary branch...
  • Fort Mahan Park - Washington DC
    Fort Mahan, in NE Washington DC, was a part of the Civil War defensive ring of forts circling the capital. The site was transformed into a park in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).  The CCC tasked Camp NP-11-DC (National Arboretum) with transforming a hillside site into a picnic grounds.  A HABS Survey Report provides details on the CCC improvements to the park and their current condition: “... In creating the grounds, the enrollees filled a borrow pit dug to provide fill for other area projects, channeled a spring, cleared trash and dead trees and brush, and graded the entire...
  • Fort Reno Park Improvements - Washington DC
    The Public Works Administration (PWA) and Federal Works Administration (FWA) both funded improvements at Fort Reno Park in 1942. In October 1942, the Washington Post reported that the FWA would demolish a 5 million gallon reservoir to construct a 20 million gallon reservoir in its place. PWA work reported by the paper was not specified. The park is no longer a working reservoir. After WWII, it was a White House Army Signal Agency facility, and it is now best known for hosting a yearly free summer concert series. There are several play fields at the park and it is unknown if...
  • Fort Slocum Park Improvements - Washington DC
    In 1936, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted cleanup efforts at Fort Slocum Park, on the site of a Civil War-era fort, in the district's northeastern quadrant. Crews removed underbrush, poisonous plants, and dead trees to make the rustic park more salubrious for public use. The outline of the old earthworks of Fort Slocum are clearly visible in satellite view.
  • Fort Stevens Reconstruction - Washington DC
    From a HABS Survey Report describing CCC work on the Fort: “Ca. 1936, CCC enrollees reconstructed a portion of the Civil War-era fort-part of Washington's defensive ring-using ‘concrete logs and timbers to simulate original log construction.’  This reconstruction included part of the fort's moat, banquette, revetments, gun platforms, and an underground powder magazine, all set within a sloped lawn and accessed by gravel walks. The 2004 field survey found that the reconstructed fort and magazine remain intact and in reasonably good shape.  Access to the underground magazine has been blocked and the walkways at the site (save the perimeter sidewalks along the...
  • Fort Stevens Recreation Center Improvements - Washington DC
    In 1942, the Washington Post reported the approval of $11,200 in funding for the Federal Works Agency (FWA) to build or make improvements to the former Stevens Playground, now Fort Stevens Recreation Center.  The work may have included tennis courts and play fields, but it has not been confirmed that the work was completed or which part of the present facility is New Deal, if any. Note that this is a few blocks north of the other Fort Stevens New Deal work site.
  • Forty-Fourth Street NW Extension - Washington DC
    In 1936, Work: A Journal of Progress reported the completion of a project by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to extend 44th Street NW,  from Dexter Street to W Street.  Today, 44th Street extends 1/4 mile south of Dexter, after which it becomes an unpaved walking path joining W Street in Grover Archbold Park.
  • Forty-Ninth Street NE Improvements - Washington DC
    The Civil Works Administration (CWA) and the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) carried out pavement repair and other unspecified improvements to a segment of 49th Street NE, from Central Avenue to Deane Avenue, in 1933-34.   The road was paved with “temporary material consisting of broken-concrete base, broken stone, and slag. These large aggregates are choked with smaller material, and an application of asphaltic cement completes the operation. This construction forms a very good temporary roadway.”   The work is likely still extant, but invisible and unmarked.  
  • Forty-ninth Street NW Improvements - Washington DC
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved a segment of Forty-ninth Street NW, from Ashby Place to Garfield Street. The WPA graded this road, and also prepared it for paving with a foundation of salvaged material. “This is an important project because it is an outlet from Conduit Road to Ashby Place through a part of the northwest section to Massachusetts Avenue.”
  • Fourteenth Street NW Improvements - Washington DC
    In 1935-36, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) carried out pavement repair and other unspecified improvements to a long segment of Fourteenth Street NW, from Thomas Circle to U Street.   The work was part of the $949,496 WPA allotment for DC roadwork for fiscal year 1936.   The work is likely still extant but invisible, having been subsequently paved over.      
  • Fourth Street SW Water Main - Washington DC
    The Civil Works Administration (CWA) lay a water main along Fourth Street SW in 1934.  At the time, the street was known as 4 1/2 street.  This was at the beginning of an extensive program of building new water mains and sewers all across the District of Columbia by New Deal agencies.
  • Frances Perkins House - Washington DC
    President Franklin Roosevelt’s Secretary of Labor, and the nation’s first female cabinet member, Frances Perkins, lived in this house from 1937 to 1940.  Today, it is a National Historic Landmark.
  • Francis Recreation Center (former) Improvements - Washington DC
    In 1942, the Washington Post reported the allocation of $32,650 to the Federal Works Agency (FWA) for new construction and improvements to the Francis Recreation Center, located at 25th and H streets NW.   The Francis Recreation Center appears to have been wiped out by the construction of I-66 after World War II.
  • Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt’s N Street Home - Washington DC
    From 1913 to 1917, while FDR was Assistant Secretary of the Navy, the Roosevelts lived at 1733 N Street, NW.  They rented this home from Anna Roosevelt Cowles, or “Auntie Bye,” who was Teddy Roosevelt’s sister. It appears the house is no longer extant.
  • Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt’s R Street Home - Washington DC
    From 1917 to 1920, while FDR was Assistant Secretary of the Navy, the Roosevelts lived at 2131 R Street NW. Today, there is a plaque by the front door that acknowledges the Roosevelts period of residence here.
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